Troubleshoot late consent

Late consent means that the default consent command is set after Google tags have already fired.

This happens when a Google tag is loaded before the default consent state of Google Consent Mode has been set up. When using CookieTractor, this happens if a Google tag is loaded before our script.

When script order can be guaranteed, CookieTractor will set the default consent command for Google Consent Mode, but automatic one-click setups with GTG might inject the Google tags before the CookieTractor script. 

Start by checking GTG

Before debugging late consent with GTG, first Verify Google Tag Gateway.

Solution 1 (recommended): Use Advanced Consent Mode (U+C)

When having problems with late consents due to the script loading order Google recommends using Advanced Consent Mode, enable Data Transmission Controls and ensure that Global Consent Defaults are set according to your needs. Advanced Consent Mode is the recommended mechanism for GTG-enabled tags since it is compatible with manual GTG.

Data Transmission Controls

Data Transmission Controls are available for Google tags used with Google Ads, Google Analytics 4 and Campaign Manager 360. These controls let you restrict which types of data the tag is allowed to send while consent is denied.

Review the available controls and configure them according to your needs. Depending on the Google product and tag setup, this may include controls for:

• advertising-related data
• behavioral analytics data
• diagnostic signals

You'll find the Data Transmission Controls in the Google Tag configuration (accessed e.g. from the "Google Tags" tab in Google Tag Manager or via "Data Streams" in Google Analytics.

Global Consent Defaults

Since the Google Tag might load before CookieTractor, you need to ensure that the consent mode defaults (granted or denied) are configured for each consent type (ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization, analytics_storage, etc) according to your needs.

Use the "Override consent mode defaults" settings for your Google Tag to ensure that these are present even if the CookieTractor script loads after the Google Tag.

If you are using Google Tag Manager:

• Click the "Google Tags" tab in in the home view
• Choose your tag, a dialog will open
• Click "Show more" and then "Override consent mode defaults"

Solution 2: Move to Google Tag Manager

If you are already using Google Tag Manager, a good option is to use our Tag Template for Google Tag Manager and move all your Google tags into the container. This way the load order is handled by Google Tag Manager removing the problem with script ordering issues due to Google Tag Gateway.

1. Follow our Google Tag Manager setup guide.
2. Move all Google tags into Google Tag Manage
3. Use our guide to verify that Google Consent Mode works correctly.

Solution 3: Manual set up

If you have full control over the website source code, you could manually ensure that the CookieTractor script is loaded before any Google tags, this will allow our script to set the consent mode defaults and solve the late consent signal problem.

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